AUSTIN — During Mack Brown’s first 14 national signing days at Texas, the only dramatic tension was technology- related. And Wednesday, he experienced a few more anxious moments due to another in a long line of unreliable fax machines.

But in a rarity for the Longhorns, they also benefited from a genuine last-minute surprise. Torshiro Davis, a four-star defensive end from Shreveport (La.) Woodlawn who had spent a year committed to LSU, changed his mind Wednesday morning and signed a national letter of intent to play at UT.

Davis’ late addition only strengthened a class that is the Longhorns’ highest-rated since 2002, when they signed the group that eventually led them to the 2005 national championship. This year’s group, led by Aledo running back Johnathan Gray and Brenham defensive tackle Malcom Brown, is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Rivals, which pegged Alabama as the top overall class.

UT’s class is ranked No. 3 in the nation by ESPNU and No. 1 nationally by Scout.

Plan B works out

Usually, the Longhorns collect the bulk of their commitments by summer and have precious little work to do leading up to signing day. This season, though, UT added three players in the last week of January, then got Davis on Wednesday.

Mack Brown, who said he’d never had a player at UT who waited until signing day to commit, didn’t exactly embrace the new drama.

“I saw more changes this year,” Brown said. “There were more flips at the end. I don’t like that.”

Brown said the changes became a necessity for the Longhorns this year because several UT scholarships opened late, both due to veteran players transferring and other commitments backing off. UT was in the running for Springfield, Mo., wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, the top recruit in the country, and was holding its last available scholarship for him.

Brown said Green-Beckham, who signed with Missouri, told UT coaches Tuesday night he was not coming to Austin. Presumably, that gave the Longhorns time to offer that scholarship to Davis, with whom UT had kept in contact all year.

Davis, ranked by Rivals as the nation’s No. 8 outside linebacker and by ESPNU as the No. 77 overall prospect in the country, didn’t announce his intentions until late Wednesday morning at his high school.

“We thought we’d have a great chance,” Brown said. “We felt like it was going to be a tight decision for him.”

Gray cream of the crop

Even without Davis flipping, Brown had what recruiting services considered to be a historically strong class. The Longhorns signed 11 players listed by either Rivals or ESPNU as one of the nation’s 100 best.

But the unquestioned jewel is Gray, the 5-11, 202-pound All-American who holds the national career record for high-school touchdowns with 205.

“He gives you a chance for a home run every time he touches it,” Brown said. “We’ve been that before (as a running team), and we need to be it again.”

Six players in the new class already are enrolled in class and will participate in spring drills, including quarterback Connor Brewer, a high school All-American from Scottsdale, Ariz.

“David (Ash) should be a lot further along (than last year),” said Brown of the sophomore who enters spring as the starting quarterback. “We’ll let Connor get into that mix and see how he does.”

Johnathan Gray, RB, Aledo: Named the Gatorade national player of the year after breaking the national career record for touchdowns, Gray gives UT a speedster in the backfield.

Malcom Brown, DT, Brenham: Not only is he a fierce defender to face, he had the speed to score twice last season as a tight end.

Timeout with Marcus Johnson

You originally gave your verbal pledge to Texas Tech. What changed your mind?

A: When the season ended, that’s when I started getting more attention, and talking to my family, being 10 hours away in Lubbock, we didn’t want to do that. So I ended up de-committing, which was a tough thing.